My Warrior

Trying

Ari threw the calculator back into the carriage after I took it out.

"Jake! You promised to HELP!" Ari groaned.

"I am." I joked. "I'm helping you not get prepared so that you will quickly fail and drop out."

She hit my arm. "Ugh. What's next on the supply list?"

I sighed, I know it was supposed to be a joke, but I still didn't want Ari to leave. "Um...black and blue ink pens." I read from the list she gave me. "And whiteout!" I added quickly.

I gripped the carriage with one hand and watched Ariana walk slowly down the aisle, looking for black and blue ink pens. I glanced around the aisle. Highlighters, pens, index cards, book covers. Things you needed for high school. Then I looked in Ari's carriage. Flashlight, pillow, binders, curtains, a desk lamp. Things you needed for college. Just why? Why did god want Ari to leave me?

Once I asked myself that question I thought about the day with Behlen on the beach when we saw Ari in the clouds. Maybe...maybe god was warning me he was ganna take her away...just not in the way I thought, death. She was alive and well, but soon she would be far from me.

"Ready to go?" Ari asked snapping me back into reality.

"Yeah, yeah, lets go."

Even after we were out of Walmart I didn't feel any better with helping her pack.

"Label that one...Bed set." Ari directed me.

"K." I said in a normal voice, the fact that Ari wanted my help was nice, but it was really hurting me to be helping get her away faster, or making it easier for her to leave in any way.

As I wrote "Bed set" I listened to the sound of the sharpie squeak against the smooth surface of the cardboard box ful of bed sets and wished that if I never finished writing it then she could never leave. I began to write much slower, staring hard at the black trail of ink the Sharpie was leaving behind it as I wrote each letter.

"Jake! Dang hurry up, I need the marker!" Ari snapped.

I wrote fast and tossed her the Sharpie. Well, a boy can dream right? I got up and sighed sitting on her bed waching her write on more boxes. She deserved a life, she deserved new experiences, she deserved to be happy, even if her happiness was miles and hours away from me. With MB J was blessed with the opportunities given to me, but Ari wasn't a celebrity, and I loved that about her...but sometimes I wished she was. Just so our worlds could be more alike. I was concerts and meet and greets, she was friends and school.

"I hope you're happy in New York Ari. It's a fun place."

She looked up from the box she was writing on and smiled. "Thanks Jake. I'm glad you're supporting me, I was afraid you'd hate me for this."

"For what? Choosing to make a life for yourself? Never." I told her honestly, no matter what I could never HATE Ari.

"Sometimes though, I feel like this is the wrong choice, leaving you and my parents."

"Ari, you had to grow up some time, we all knew it."

She shrugged. "I know." And kept writing on her taped up boxes. This week was her last week of school before graduation...and then...she'd be taking a plane to start her new life.